Scare Tactics
by Shadow Mage Evelyn
Summary: Who is The Doppleganger, and what has he done with Edward? Rated for Ed's potty mouth. He drops the Fbomb. Also rated to possible future violence. Please read and review!
1. Part One

If you don't know what a _yari_ is, it is a Japanese spear-staff. The _yari_ Ed transmutes is the one he uses in the first episode when he tries to poke at Cornello's bird-demon thing. The dragony one…you know? He uses it almost all the time...

Hope you like this story! Please read and review!!

**SCARE TACTICS**

**Part One**

Edward Elric didn't scare easily.

Despite their many attempts and concerted efforts otherwise, this fact was something that his disgruntled comrades at Eastern Command had realized, because no matter how many closets they jumped out of, or how many frightening masks they popped around corners wearing, or how many break-in-through-the-window-and-pretend-to-be-a-masked-murderer routines they put into motion, practically nothing scared the even keeled Fullmetal Alchemist. (They did, however, discover along the way that the boy had an unreasonable phobia of spiders, even if they were ridiculous pink-and-purple-polka-dotted ones with huge cartoon eyes and that squeaked when squeezed, but of course, the terror only lasted as long as it was required to destroy the object resembling said eight-legged creature.) After studying the specimen in all types of environments and using all kind of fear tactics, the four men had come to the conclusion that, indeed, Edward Elric was not one to scare easily.

What they didn't realize was that they were trying to bring out a skittishness in Edward that simply did not exist. After seeing the product of his and Alphonse's failed human transmutation, there was little left in this world that could truly frighten him. (Excepting, of course, spiders, because those little monsters were just plain _icky_, and also leaving out the wrath of his alchemy teacher, Izumi Curtis, because that woman was just plain _terrifying_ when she flew off the handle!) The only thing Edward was truly afraid of was losing his brother, a thought that was usually imbedded in the minds of all older siblings when they realized there was another they had to look after. He'd already lost his brother once, and by sheer desperation and willpower, he had managed to miraculously bring his soul back. If he lost his brother a second time…well, he didn't know what he would do, but it would no doubt end with him going off the deep end—if, of course, other people had prevented him from jumping to some horrid death before that.

However, there was something else that could put a tremble in Edward Elric's steady knees, and that was a feeling of utter helplessness. It was a rarity for him to be unable to defend himself, and the last time he'd ever felt that way had been at the hands of Barry the Chopper when he was twelve. At that time, the man had removed his automail arm, and had thusly almost cut him off from his greatest weapon—his alchemy. Little had Barry realized that Edward had previously performed alchemy with chalk and circles before realizing that he could transmute by just clapping his hands, and thusly the man had been fully unprepared when Edward had scratched the transmutation circle on his chains and turned them into a weapon to fight with. So, even then, Edward hadn't been _truly_ helpless, though, certainly, to his twelve year old perspective, it had been pretty darn close. Now at fifteen, he had been pretty sure that he'd seen everything that could possibly frighten him. He'd been through the Gate of Truth. He'd faced down the homunculus that looked like his mother. He'd even taken down Greed, who, at first glance, had seemed impossible to beat. So, eliminating the terror of his teacher's anger, there was little left in this world that could really scare him.

He was about to find out the fallacy of that claim.

It was rather late a night as he wandered through Dublith's streets, heading from the city's main library where he'd done some solo researching and making his way back to the Curtis residence. Honestly, though, Edward preferred traveling at night. It was quieter, and there were few people who could bother him. Besides, Dublith was a pretty small town, and he could easily take care of himself. Those were the thoughts running through his mind when he became aware that he was being followed. Edward felt the skin of his forehead twitch in irritation. Really, didn't these people have lives? Deciding it would be better to deal with the situation sooner than later, Edward allowed himself to be herded into a gathering of secluded alleyways, all of which ended in dead ends. He turned right at the first corner and rushed down a few steps, turning around to face his pursuer. The man pulled up short as he rounded the bend, clearly caught off guard at being confronted.

"Who are you and what do you want with me?" Edward demanded, hands never leaving his pockets, stance easy but alert. The guy looked like a pushover with the brim of his ball cap pulled low and his shoulders hunched in an attempt look inconspicuous. For a moment, the man didn't say anything, so Edward pulled his hands out of his pockets.

"Not much of a talker, huh?" he continued, and he clapped his hands together, touching the wall and quickly transmuting his favored, dragon-emblazoned _yari_ and holding it out before him.

"Good, I hate it when people talk too much."

He leapt forward from his leading foot, the _yari_ held out to his right side, ready to strike as he ran by. He sliced viciously at the man's shoulder and stopped his momentum, turning to grin wickedly at the man. This fight would be over sooner than he thought.

But, when he looked at the man's shoulder, there was no indication of the wound he'd just inflicted.

Edward stared hard at the man, who broke into a grin of his own.

"You've got some skills," the man said, and he lifted his face so that Edward could lock eyes with his—two bottomless indigo pools that were cold and soulless. Edward had never seen eyes so empty before. The man's grin widened crazily.

"But so do I," he continued, and Edward's surprise grew when he realized that the _yari_ was melting in his hands.

"What the—?" he began, dropping the remaining remnants, but then his eyes flew back up to his opponent, who was right in front of him before he even registered the fact that the man had moved.

"Nighty-night, kiddo!"

Blackness.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Izumi was meditatively sharpening a knife when the clock in her front room chimed the three o'clock hour. Alphonse looked up from his book.

"Brother's not back yet?" he asked.

"Doesn't look like it," responded Mason, who stood sweeping absently in a corner. Alphonse studied the clock for a long moment.

"I hope nothing happened to him."

"I wouldn't worry about him," Izumi finally interjected, never breaking stride as she scraped her knife against the sharpening block. "He can take care of himself."

"I know, but…you know how Brother can get sometimes, Teacher."

"Yes, I do. And I also know that sometimes he can become very absorbed in what he's reading. No doubt that's what happened, and he's probably on his way as we speak."

Alphonse sighed and looked back at the clock.

"I hope you're right," he replied. Izumi stood up, forehead twitching as she brandished the newly sharpened knife.

"Are you saying that you doubt me???" she demanded angrily, and Alphonse panicked, waving his hands frantically in effort to calm her.

"N…n-n...n-n-n-no, ma'am!!!"

"You better not!!!"

"I'm not!!! I swear it!!"

Before the woman could press the point further, a rock smashed through the front window, shattering glass and bouncing across the hardwood floors. For a split second, no one moved, until Izumi, rage now channeling towards the rude interruption, stormed forward and grabbed the offending object. She noticed that there was a folded piece of paper tied to the rock with some heavy string, and she untied the knot, loosening it so that she could slide the paper out into her hand. With practiced ease, she unfolded the paper with one hand, scanning its contents silently for a few seconds, her expression unreadable.

"Teacher?" Alphonse dared to pipe up. The woman didn't respond, only closed her eyes and refolded the paper, placing it in the pocket of her black pants.

"What's going on, Izumi?" Sig asked, stalking heavily into the room.

"It's nothing, honey. All of you stay here. I'm going to go hunt down the punks who threw this rock and give them a piece of my mind."

The two men and the boy all looked at one another in mutually silent confusion while the woman lightly stepped out the front door into the night-drenched street beyond.

She walked a little ways down the street, heading right, her shoulders straight, fists clenched, feet stomping, and there was an energy swirling about her that no one could comprehend. She stopped when she reached the first alleyway on her right and turned into it, leaving the circle of dim light from the lamppost out by the road. Her dark eyes squinted determinedly as she forced them to adjust to the gloom, and as she waited for them to dilate properly, she ran through the message written on the rock-delivered note.

_Missing someone? Turn right out your front door and stop at the first alleyway on the right. Come alone._

She knew only one thing: Edward had better not be in trouble. That's when she saw it, the bright red mass laying belly down and motionless at the end of the alley. The figure lay somewhat on his left side, the mass of tousled blonde hair trailing around behind his shoulder. Izumi sped forward, heart skipping a beat.

"Ed," she called, reaching for him. He didn't stir when she grabbed his shoulder, and when she rolled him over, he followed the motion limply. Izumi went cold to the bone when he was completely exposed to her view.

His face was gone.

It took her a minute to get the gears in her head to start working again, and she was completely relieved to find that the object in her arms was merely an Edward-shaped dummy and not the genuine article himself. There was, however, no mistaking that the clothes were Edward's; they still carried his clean, vanilla scent, and the way the smell hovered heavily around them indicated that they had been removed recently. She realized that the blonde hair was just a wig, but it had been meshed in with the dummy flesh so perfectly, that it looked like real hair with a real hairline. She grimaced, knowing all to well that there was only one person who possessed the skill to make such a perfect, life-sized human replica. However, before she got up to leave, she noticed that there was something etched into the spot where the face should have been. However, she couldn't read what it said in the darkness around her, so she lifted the limp item and carried it to the roadside lamp.

_Surprised? Come down to the abandoned Dublith Living Complex construction site in two hours, and your protégé might be returned to you unharmed._

Izumi looked around her for a long moment in silence, studying the rooftops of the surrounding buildings. She caught sight of a figure atop the building to her left and glared at them. For a moment, neither she nor the other said anything or moved, until the other person finally turned and disappeared into the night. Izumi, meanwhile, waited for a few more moments until she, too, moved away, carrying the dummy with her the whole way home.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Kidnapped?? Brother?? Why??" Alphonse sputtered in disbelief.

"I don't know. But I'm sure I can guess," Izumi answered.

Sig studied the dummy intently.

"Izumi…you don't think it's…" he trailed off, and she nodded.

"I do. Which is why I can guess why Edward's been kidnapped."

"Who?" Alphonse asked. "Who did this?"

Izumi paused and reached out to pick up her teaspoon, stirring her tea idly for a moment, trying to gather her thoughts. She held the cup to her lips.

"They call him 'The Doppleganger'. He specializes in transmuting dummies in the exactly likenesses of people, much as he did with that one."

She nodded to the Edward-shaped dummy.

"Normally, he transmutes a face, but I guess he decided it would be funnier to use this to deliver his message."

"What's his real name?" Alphonse asked when she paused to sip at her tea. Izumi looked at him over the rim of her cup and then lowered it a second later so that she could stare at him suspiciously.

"I'm hoping you're asking out of idle curiosity and not because you're planning to go off on some daring, whirlwind rescue."

Alphonse balked.

"Teacher! He's _my_ brother!"

"Indeed, but the note was addressed to _me_, and, thusly, this is _my_ responsibility."

"But, Teacher, I—!!"

"No buts, Alphonse! You're staying here!"

She pointed a finger at him threateningly.

"If I see so much as a spiky shouldered shadow in the near _vicinity_ of that old complex, I'll destroy you myself."

Alphonse wanted to protest again, but knew better than to push his luck on this one.

"Yes, Teacher."

"Good. Mason!"

The man snapped to immediate attention.

"Yes, Izumi!!"

"Make sure he stays put. Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am!!"

That decision behind her, Izumi moved out of the room to try to find someway to kill the next two hours.

"You'd better be alright, Ed," she muttered to herself as she moved upstairs.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Hey! Hey! Sleepin' Beauty! Wake up!"

Something icy cold and wet was held against the right side of his neck, forcing him further out of the achy, black darkness. He moaned and his head lolled to the left weakly.

"Rise and shine, Goldilocks! We've got some business to discuss!"

There was an odd squelching noise nearby, and icy cold water soaked his face, startling him.

"Wakey-wakey, kiddo!"

With near Herculean effort, Edward opened his eyes, blinking them a few times in the dim lighting of the lamp hanging above him.

"_Finally!_ Sheesh, you act like I hit you with a whole _building_ or somethin'!"

Edward tried to focus past the thick, dumb feeling spread throughout his body, and he looked around him, trying to get a feel for his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was that he was half-laying, half-sitting in a blue, porcelain bathtub of some kind. Following that brilliant deduction were two different realizations at once: one, his arms were chained tightly to the handicap railings on the opposite sides of the tub; and two, he was only wearing his boxers and his hair was unbound. Still trying to shake off the lingering stupor, Edward's eyes traveled lethargically to his right, only to meet with two familiar indigo eyes set in an unfortunately familiar face. The man was kneeling beside the bathtub, arms crossed on the blue-tiled rim with his chin resting atop them, his ball cap gone and his brown hair hanging down into his eyes. He grinned ruefully at Edward.

"You're probably going to feel pretty groggy for awhile. I accidentally gave you a dose that was too high for someone your size. Sorry about that."

Edward wanted to slug the man, but the chains binding him were pulled too short, so he settled for shifting uncomfortably.

"But actually, this works to my advantage. At least you'll keep quiet and be easier to control for awhile. I hear you're a real _spitfire_ when you get pissed."

Edward decided to ignore the man, choosing, instead, to study his bindings wordlessly for a long moment, noticing that the ends of the chains were embedded quite securely into the leather manacles clasped tightly around his wrists. He realized, too, that his limited mobility robbed him of his number one weapon, and the dawning realization of his defenseless position made him groan, close his eyes, and sink back down against the back of the tub.

"Come on, kiddo, don't blank out on me again!" the man urged, voice somewhat perturbed, and the icy cold washcloth was pressed against his neck again.

"I need you to be awake!"

Edward shivered and tried to squirm away from the washcloth, uttering an incoherent protest. He didn't like that the man pressed the cloth against his throat. It only made him feel more vulnerable than he already was in his semi-exposed state. At this show of wakefulness, the man retracted the washcloth and reassumed his cross-armed position.

"Now, I'm betting that you're probably wonderin' what a kid like you is doin' here with a fellow like me."

It took monumental effort on Edward's part, but he managed somehow or another to summon a fairly decent glare to aim at the man.

"Well, I'll tell ya. See, I've got a _real_ problem with the lady you learned alchemy from, and I know that you're pretty important to her. So, basically, I'm gonna use _you_ to get back at _her_. Sound fair?"

Edward really wished he didn't feel so woozy because he really wanted nothing less than to plant a metal fist in the man's kisser.

"Fuck…you…" he managed to slur out. The man frowned.

"Now, now, Goldilocks. No need for such language. I'm not planning to do you any harm…"

He mused on that a moment until he shrugged and nodded his head in an allowing sort of way.

"Well, not unless your teacher gives me a reason to. But anyway…like I was sayin', there's no reason to be like that. Language of that kind only puts me in a bad mood."

Edward's eyes went wide when the man flicked out a switchblade knife and held it out before him, its point aimed towards Edward's unprotected chest. There was a hardness in his eyes that hadn't been there a second before.

"And you don't want to see me when I'm in a bad mood," he warned, tone deadly serious in a low, threatening way. For a moment, the two sat there, staring one another in the eye. Edward swallowed hard, but he didn't say anything.

Finally, after an agonizing moment, the man moved the switchblade away and closed it, tucking it away into one of his unseen pockets. He rose to his feet and looked back down at Edward.

"I'm gonna leave you alone for now. I've got some preparations to make for your teacher's arrival. Just sit tight until I get back, okay, kiddo?"

Seriously, Edward just wanted to slap the man, but he made no movements—didn't really have the energy to move, anyway—and the man smiled at his seeming cooperativeness, turning and leaving the room. Once he was out of sight, Edward moaned and leaned back again, closing his golden eyes.

Well, he thought as he started to sink back into the drowsy blackness, how the hell was he supposed to get out of this one?

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Dun dun DUUUUUUN!!

This is going to be an extremely short multi-chapter fic. Don't be surprised if it resolves itself in the next chapter. I'm not aiming for it to be more than three, so…yeah…

How do you like it so far? Please let me know what you liked or didn't like! I'd appreciate it!

On a side note…what fangirl wouldn't be totally thrilled to find Ed chained in their bathtub in only his boxers?? I know that I wouldn't protest too much about not being able to take a shower, lol!!


	2. Part Two

This chapter is specially dedicated to Super Goat Grl! Get better soon!!

**SCARE TACTICS**

**Part Two**

A half an hour later found the man they called the Doppelganger adding the finishing touches to his latest creation, another life-sized replica of his captive. He had to be honest with himself, he thought as he busily braided the dummy's hair. Of all of the people he'd ever replicated, he liked the kid the most. He had spunk. Beyond that, though, copying the kid's form was really a pursuit in art. He was…well, in a word…perfect. He was just the right size that multiple dummies could be made, and there was a grace and style to his frame that a lot of the previous people he'd recreated didn't possess.

Yes, perfect, like a perfect little doll that he could manipulate for his own uses.

There was no lust for his captive to be found in the Doppelganger. He didn't think of him that way—didn't, really, think of _anyone_ that way. People were just like the dolls he created: lifeless, soulless, completely devoid of any sense of purpose or thoughts outside of the collective consciousness of their groups. He'd never found much use for companionship, but he could appreciate good art just like any other normal human, and there were some people in this world who were good art. Tying off the braid, he put his hands on his hips and gave a satisfied nod, eyeing the details on his newest doll appreciatively, and then he laid it off to the side for later. He then got up off the stairs and moved up them, heading back to the bathroom where he'd left the kid.

The Dublith Living Complex was an abandoned hotel project located on the edge of Dublith. The city had given up on the ten story building years ago when they'd gone temporarily bankrupt trying to cover up a political scandal. Even when they'd finally had the funds, they'd never decided whether or not to finish the complex, and so it had sat to this day. The Doppelganger couldn't remember exactly what the scandal had been about, but it didn't matter. Either way, this building was the perfect hideout for him. It had electricity and running water, plus access to a lot of the major roadways leading out of Dublith, making a clean getaway possible. There wasn't a whole lot of traffic around the area, too, making this a perfect location to hide a captive. Speaking of which, he mused, leaning in the bathroom doorway. The kid had blacked out again, head tilted to the left, his blonde hair forming a silky curtain across his cheek. The Doppelganger moved further into the room, taking a seat on the lid of the toilet off to the side to better study the kid.

There was a pretty nasty bruise on the right side of his neck where the Doppelganger had injected the sleeping drugs. That was their signature; they always reacted that way. Normally, however, the bruise wasn't quite that big, and the people didn't sleep for quite so long, but, as he had told the kid earlier, the dosage had been meant for an adult male, not a kid, and not for someone so little. The Doppelganger shrugged. Oh well. Better luck next time. At least the kid wouldn't be getting out of hand anytime soon. The man studied the mechanical arm and leg thoughtfully for a moment. Poetry in motion, he mused. The kid was perfect, and, at the same time, imperfect. There was something symbolic about that, as if this kid were physically representing the whole human race. They tried to appear perfect when, in actuality, they weren't. No one was. The only places the Doppelganger had ever found perfection in were his dolls. They didn't betray him. They didn't presume to be better than they were. They didn't try to leave him, or make him do ridiculous things just to determine if he was worth spending time on. The Doppelganger's expression hardened as he stared at the boy. He might look like a perfect little doll, but he wasn't. He never would be. He _would_, however, help the Doppelganger get his revenge.

His black handled switchblade was in his hand before he even registered flicking it out. It took everything within him not to plunge the blade into that defenseless heart, though he wanted to so badly, it burned. What did this kid have that he didn't? The man pulled the worn, silver pocket-watch out of his other pocket, holding it in his hand and studying it for a long, long moment. State Alchemist, huh? Famous for being the youngest to ever pass the exam? The man glared at the watch. What was it that people called this kid? "Hero of the people"? The Doppelganger snorted, looking up. Some hero. More like a weak, helpless brat. The kid didn't deserve the title of hero. He'd become a dog of the military, and they didn't care about people at all.

But, beyond that…this was _her_ student. Her _only_ student. He'd only gotten as far as he had because he'd learned from _her_. The Doppelganger loomed over the boy. If he'd solved that stupid "one is all, all is one" riddle, he might have been her only student instead of this little brat. His grip on the switchblade tightened. He'd deserved it much more than this little snot-nosed bastard did. The position as _her_ apprentice, the position of State Alchemist, Hero of the People, all of those titles…they should have been _his_, not some baby-faced juvenile's in need of a haircut who probably couldn't even grow a whole beard.

It registered a second later that he was holding the blade of his knife against the kid's exposed throat, and he recoiled. He couldn't kill the kid. He still needed him. He closed his eyes and took a deep steadying breath, and then he opened his eyes and replaced the now closed switchblade back into one pocket while he put the pocket-watch in the other. He couldn't waste anymore time. His plans were in motion, and he couldn't afford to slip up now. That in mind, he moved out of the room and walked back downstairs to finish setting up for her arrival.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Teacher?"

Izumi looked up from her book and met Alphonse's gaze.

"Yes, Alphonse?" she asked, closing the book and setting it to the side. For a moment, Alphonse fidgeted, trying to decide on his best course of action before summoning his courage and stepping into the room.

"Teacher, you said you could guess why the Doppelganger kidnapped Ed. Could…could you tell me?"

She studied him silently for a long moment, and he inwardly writhed under her gaze.

"I'm worried about him," he said. "That's…that's why I want to know."

Izumi smiled warmly up at the boy.

"You're good to him," she said, and then she sighed, gesturing to the chair across from her and folding her hands in her lap. Alphonse lowered his metal girth as quietly as possible and sat at attention, ready to read every emotion line, every expression, and ready to interpret every inflection and tone.

"I knew the Doppelganger before he became the Doppelganger," she began. "He was a young, mousy man who was looking for an alchemy teacher. He told me that he wanted to learn from the best, and had heard that I was the one to go to."

She smirked.

"Much as I had with you and Edward, I gave him a…preliminary test to decide whether he was worth teaching or not. I left him in the middle of the Great Desert to the East for one month and told him if he couldn't figure out what 'one is all, all is one' meant, I wasn't going to teach him."

Alphonse nodded knowingly, having experienced something similar with his brother before they'd begun their apprenticeship.

"What happened?" he asked her when she didn't continue. Izumi looked down at her hands.

"When I returned in a month, he was alive, but he couldn't tell me the meaning of the riddle. I knew that I couldn't teach him, and told him so, sending him back on his way."

"How did he react to that?"

Alphonse could well guess, considering that they were talking about the man who had kidnapped his brother, but he asked anyway. Izumi shrugged.

"Much as you would expect. He was belligerent and angry, demanding a better explanation. I finally told him that I wasn't going to teach him because I refused to give such an unstable person a weapon with which to hurt others. The last I heard of him, he had found another teacher a couple of towns over."

Izumi propped her elbow on the arm of her chair and placed her chin in her hand. Her face was strained with concern.

"I'm disturbed that he's held on to his grudge this long, and I'm upset that he would choose to act on it by using Ed against me."

She stared steadily at Alphonse, expression determined.

"I promise you that I will get Edward back, Alphonse. And I will make the Doppelganger pay for doing this."

Alphonse nodded, and then looked down for a second before looking back up at her.

"Teacher…I noticed that you won't call him by his real name. Is it because you don't want me to find him?"

Izumi snorted.

"No…it's because he's not the person he once was. He's become something else more sinister and twisted…he doesn't deserve to be called by his old name."

Alphonse stared at her for a long moment, digesting that silently, and his concern for his brother's safety only grew.

"Teacher…there's something else I want to ask you. I know you will say no to it, but I'm going to ask you anyway."

She stared hard at him.

"What is it?"

"Teacher, let me go with you."

"No."

"Teacher—"

"No, Alphonse. You're staying here."

"But I don't have to."

She looked at him inquiringly.

"He didn't say that you had to go to the complex alone. He only told you to go there. So, please, let me go, too! You might need my help, Teacher, and Ed _is_ my brother."

Izumi teetered on that for a long moment before Sig stomped into the room.

"Let him come along, Izumi. I'm going, so he may as well come, too."

"No, Sig, you're staying here, too."

"The hell I am. Izumi, you know what happens if you strain yourself. You're going to need all the help you can get."

"Yeah," Al backed up.

Izumi looked between the two for a moment, eyeing the uncompromising stances to their bodies. Finally, she sighed.

"Fine. You both can come. But," she said, pointing warningly at Alphonse, "you'd better not do anything stupid or rash, you hear? We can't afford any screw ups!"

"Yes, ma'am!" he replied happily, nodding and holding his fists up in a gesture of determined exuberance. "I won't let you down!"

"You'd better not!!"

We're coming, Ed, she thought to herself. Just hang on a little bit longer.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

When Edward woke up again, he felt much more awake and alert than he had before. He looked around again, really taking in the details. The chains binding him to the tub had been attached to the handrails with alchemy, making them impossible to break off, though he couldn't resist trying. He pulled hard with his left hand, straining as far as he could go, testing the strength of the metal. The chain held. He tried the same thing with his right hand, and actually pulled a little harder, his automail usually strong enough to do the job. That chain held, too. He studied the links on the chain binding his right hand, hoping that maybe if he pulled long enough and hard enough, he could bend one of the links open and slide some of the chain free. Apparently his captor had had enough foresight to transmute seamless links, because there were no weaknesses to be found and exploit. Edward sighed. Well, damn, he was really caught this time, wasn't he? Though the tone of his thoughts was casual and lighthearted, there was an uncomfortable feeling squirming around in his gut that wouldn't go away not matter how much he tried to ignore it. The fact that he was securely bound up in a place he didn't recognize with a man he didn't know who was clearly unstable wasn't something he could easily swallow. He'd been robbed of his number one weapon, his alchemy, and no matter how far out he held his hands, there was still about two feet of space between them, making transmuting something impossible. There wasn't even something sharp nearby that he could use to scratch out a circle and bust free.

Yup, he thought leaning back and wincing, he wasn't going to get out of this one anytime soon. Of course, he didn't really understand the man's motives for kidnapping him in the first place; he said he was using Edward to get back at Izumi, but…why? What had she done to drive him to this point? And why take the petty route by attacking Edward first, rather than just heading straight for Izumi herself? If there was one thing Edward didn't understand, it was the way that criminals thought. He dabbled on the darker sides of the law sometimes himself, but he would never ever understand why people like his captor had to make a big production out of things. Moving past the bigger picture, Edward started wondering about the motivation for removing his clothes. Why chain him up in a bathtub in only his boxers? If the man's reason for kidnapping him hadn't made any sense, than this choice was _really_ obscure. Where were his clothes? His semi-naked state really bugged Edward more than he cared to admit. It made him feel too vulnerable and too open to danger, and he didn't like that feeling at all. It also made him realize that all the time he'd been unconscious he'd been at the man's complete mercy and that really unsettled him. If there was one thing that Edward hated, it was feeling helpless, and at that moment, lying in the bathtub with no feasible escape routes opening up to him, he was feeling extremely defenseless. That thought in mind, he resumed his efforts to get out of his chains, twisting them around and pulling, hoping to expose some weakness somewhere, but the longer he kept at it, the more invincible his bindings seemed.

Suddenly, his captor returned, one hand holding a glass full of some sort of dark amber liquid, the other hand tucked away into a pocket. He sipped on his drink for a moment as he stood thoughtfully in the doorway.

"Well, well, look who's up," he said jovially, coming forward and plunking himself down on the toilet beside Edward.

"How're we doin'?" he asked, tone conversational, but Edward eyed him warily, not trusting him for an instant.

"Fine," he muttered a moment later, making no more moves to attempt to break free of his bindings. He knew from prior experience that the slightest of triggers could set the man off, and he had no desire to find out what anymore of those triggers might be. Again, he found the entire situation to be unsettling.

"That's good."

The man sipped a little more of his drink and nodded.

"It's almost showtime," he said leadingly.

"Uh-huh."

"Yup. But, don't worry; your part's not that big. You don't even have any lines!"

The man guffawed at his own humor, slapping his leg and laughing outright for a few moments. Yet, there was no mirth in his empty, indigo eyes, and Edward inwardly shivered.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking," he began tentatively.

"Of course not! Ask away!"

Edward leaned a little more towards his left away from the man, trying to get out of his range.

"Why _exactly_ am I here again?"

He found his own nervousness to be strangely out of character for him, but he deigned to err on the side of caution for now.

"Didn't I tell you already? It's to help me get back at that woman you call 'Teacher'."

"I see," he answered, trying to keep the man talking. "What is it that you want to get back at her for?"

The man's expression darkened dangerously with a suddenness that was truly frightening.

"She forced me to perform a ridiculous action so that she could measure my worth."

The man snorted.

"As if a person's worth were quantifiable."

Edward noted with growing alarm that the man's speech patterns changed dramatically when he was in his more dangerous mood. They were more formal, more controlled. The fifteen year old shifted slightly more to his left, trying to make himself as small as possible and not draw any unnecessary attention. It didn't work, because the man's eyes snapped over to stare directly at him.

"You understand. You know. I'm sure she did the same to you when you signed up to be her student."

Edward didn't say anything, just stared at the man with an expression akin to that of a scared rabbit's. The man rose to his feet to tower over the youth.

"Except that she turned _me_ away. She told me that I didn't have what it takes to be her apprentice, and even went so far as to presume to tell me that I was too 'unstable' to learn alchemy."

The man leaned down towards Edward so fast, that the boy ducked his head to the one side and squeezed his eyes shut. When he realized that the man wasn't aiming to hit him, he opened his eyes and raised them to meet the other's.

"Well, I'll show her, won't I?" he continued, grabbing at the chain binding Edward's right wrist and shaking it.

"You could try for days and never break these," he said, and Edward silently agreed with that assessment.

"She'll learn what a mistake she made. And _you_ are going to help me make the lesson more…poignant."

Edward felt his knees beginning to tremble.

"Are you going to kill me?" he couldn't help but ask. The man stared at him coldly.

"If I have to."

Edward shook his head in denial.

"This…this is crazy! Nothing good is going to come of this! You're not going to _prove_ anything, other than the fact that her decision was well-founded!"

Edward realized a second too late that he should have kept that opinion to himself when he saw something dangerous flash through the man's eyes, and before he could react, the man backhanded him as hard as he could, causing Edward's head to snap to the side painfully. The man grabbed his chin in a bruising grip and forced his golden eyes to meet his. Edward stared at the man in quiet terror, his heart thumping wildly against his ribs.

"If I were you, I would keep any and all opinions to myself," he growled, voice rumbling threateningly like a brewing thunderstorm. For a long, long moment, he continued to hold Edward's gaze, letting the boy reading the promise of pain in his eyes before roughly shoving him down and standing up. He grabbed his glass and started out, stopping long enough to turn around and throw the glass with such tremendous force that it shattered into several pieces against the side of the bathtub. Edward flinched as glass flew up over the rim and into the tub with him, and then watched wordlessly as the man stormed out of the room.

For a moment, Edward didn't move, breath bated and heart pounding, but when the man didn't immediately return, he slowly relaxed, trying to dismiss the trembling in his knees. He stared at the glass resting on the right side rim of the tub for a moment, and then, as quietly and subtly as possible, he reached up and grabbed a fairly decent-sized piece. It had a long, sharp edge on it perfect for etching. He glanced at the door for a split second before turning the shard over in his hand and placing the tip against the leather of the clasp around his wrist. It was an awkward angle to draw at, but he still managed somehow, and managed, too, to lightly touch the tiny transmutation circle with one finger. The leather clasp split apart and he pulled his arm free. He then turned the shard back over and drew the same circle on the other clasp, touching it and pulling his left hand free. He set down the glass shard and rubbed his left wrist, trying to get some of the feeling back that he'd lost, and then he started to move, knowing that he couldn't waste time around here anymore. Quickly and silently, he lifted himself out of the tub and stretched his right leg as far out over the rim as he could go, avoiding the shattered glass on the floor and following swiftly with his left foot. He then moved as slowly and as silently as possible to the door, leaning against the wall and peering out into the hallway beyond.

When he didn't see anyone, he moved out, head moving in all directions, half walking, half running down the hallway towards the stairwell. When he opened the door and moved into stairwell, he almost tripped and fell over a life-sized mannequin laying there. For a moment, he froze, taking in the eerily familiar hairstyle and clothing, and he realized that he was staring face to face with a replica of himself. Of course, he was only figuratively staring it in the face, because the dummy didn't actually have a face, only a message.

_You're getting warmer._

Edward reeled back in horror as he realized that this particular dummy was part of an Edward-shaped dummy trail laid out for Izumi.

"I've got to get out of here," he muttered, staring at the mannequin in disbelief as he moved past down the stairs. He didn't get very far when he saw a shadow moving out of the corner of his eye, and before he could turn to meet any oncoming attack, a hand clamped around his throat and slammed him full-force against the wall. Edward's eyes stared in horror at the switchblade held level with his face.

"You just couldn't behave, could you, kiddo?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Ed: Man! You think you're out, and then _they pull ya back in!_

Well, yeah…if you didn't get caught again, it would ruin the plot…

Ed: Plot? There's a plot to this story?

(glares at him) Hilarious.

Ed: I do have one thing to complain about.

When do you _not_ have something to complain about?

Ed: (sidelong glare) Ha ha…but seriously, I think you're taking too many cheap shots at my dignity.

Dignity? What is this 'dignity' you speak of?

Ed: I'm serious!

…you would think after waking up in a _bathtub_ in your_ undies_ you would realize that you haven't had _any_ dignity since the start of this story…

Ed: …well that's a thought that's gonna fester…

Uh huh…

Please review!!


	3. Part Three

**SCARE TACTICS**

**Part Three**

"So what should your punishment be, huh?"

Edward tried very hard not to whimper aloud and give the man the satisfaction of seeing him afraid, but he was truly terrified at this moment. The knife inched closer to his face.

"How about I cut out one your golden eyes to give to your teacher as a down payment?"

Edward uttered something that might have been a "no", but it got strangled halfway out of his throat, though he didn't know if that was because of the hand fastened around his neck or his fear. He wanted to close his eyes, but he couldn't look away from that knife point hovering so perilously close to his left eye. Time seemed to stand excruciatingly still, and the longer the knife lingered, the worse Edward's trembling became. Finally, after an eternity of staring his death in the eye, the switchblade pulled back and the man threw him down onto the ground. Before Edward could respond, his captor started wailing away at him with his fists, slugging him repeatedly in the face and kicking him a few times in the stomach. Edward couldn't even begin to defend himself in the lightning fast assault, and only laid there, trying to cover his head and trying, too, to keep from crying out.

"_You little bastard!!"_ the man screamed as he continued to kick the unprotected boy at his feet. "_You could have ruined __**everything**__!! Do you understand?? __**EVERYTHING!!"**_

Tears began to gather in Edward's eyes, but he clenched his jaw tightly, holding them back. He would not give the man the satisfaction. He just wouldn't.

Finally, the man's fit of rage died down and he ceased with the beating. Edward didn't move, couldn't find the breath to do so, but the man grabbed a handful of his blonde hair and painfully pulled him into a somewhat sitting position. The man pressed his switchblade tight against the boy's throat and glared into his tawny yellow eyes.

"If you want to live to see your little brother again, I suggest you stop trying to play the hero and _behave_."

Edward closed his eyes as the man pressed the blade further into his exposed flesh, shaking. He felt the keenness of the cold metal edge and knew that in one second, his life could be over. The man leaned close against his ear and whispered his next words harshly.

"Otherwise…I may no longer find you useful. And I have no need for _useless_ _objects_."

Edward squeezed his eyes tighter.

"Understand?"

He swallowed hard and nodded very, very slowly. The knife moved away from his throat and the man released his hold on Edward's hair.

"Get up," he ordered coldly, and Edward obeyed meekly, though it was tough, considering how disoriented he was from the blows to his head. Already, he could feel one eye beginning to swell. The man didn't hesitate, grabbing him roughly by his right wrist and forcefully twisting his automail arm behind his back. He then forced the boy to march upstairs and directed him down a hallway to the first room on the left—a bedroom, if the heavy wooden frame was any clue. Once there, Edward found himself being spun around like a top and backhanded across the face for the second time in two hours. He dropped to the floor like a sack of bricks and made no movements, lacking both the strength and the courage to try to fight back. The man, however, moved quickly, grabbing both of Edward's wrists and holding them out with one hand, while the other hand scratched a quick transmutation circle into the tile floor with his knife. Once the circle was finished, he laid Edward's wrists across it and touched it, causing it to spark a greenish blue color before crackling to life with alchemic energy. Weakly, Edward lifted his head in enough time to see the glow fade away, revealing his new bindings. The transmuted tile was now tightly covering his arms about 2 and ½ inches above his wrists, and it covered his hands all the way up to the second knuckles on his fingers. A sizeable chunk of the tile connected the two wrists, keeping his hands nearly a foot apart, and with both his thumbs and his wrists so immobilized, there was nothing impressive he could do beyond wriggling his fingers uselessly.

As the horror of his helplessness started to sink in, Edward felt himself being forced into yet another sitting position and the man wrapped a blanket he'd folded lengthwise around the boy's torso, covering him from his elbows up to about an inch under his shoulders. With another show of alchemical prowess, the man transmuted the blankets into an unbreakable wrap, further immobilizing Edward's arms. For a finishing touch, he shoved a cotton handkerchief into the boy's mouth and tied it tightly behind his head, rendering him completely speechless. When he finished, he needlessly shoved Edward down onto the ground. Edward lay there on his side, staring up at the man in sheer terror. Never in his entire life had he ever felt so absolutely powerless. There was nothing he could do to change or to escape the situation, and they both knew it. The man stared down at him from his lofty height, and he seemed almost bigger to Edward than before, so powerful and almost godlike.

"You're lucky that I need you alive, Goldilocks. If this situation were different, I would have spilled your blood back on those stairs long before you would have seen me coming."

Edward wholeheartedly believed that, and the fearful look in his eyes told the man as much. The man leaned towards him, causing the boy to flinch reflexively before continuing to stare up at him.

"Don't push your luck this time, kid. Try to escape again and I will kill you."

As a precaution, the man grabbed another blanket and transmuted it into a length of cotton rope, binding Edward's ankles together with one end and then securing the other end to one of the legs of the bed frame at the boy's back. Without another word to his captive, he turned and stalked out of the room, shutting the door behind him with a definitive slam.

Lying there helpless, beaten, and scared, it was all Edward could do to keep from crying.

_Someone…please get me out of here. _

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Well, this is it."

Alphonse stared up at the unfinished building before him. The top three floors didn't even have outer walls covering their metallic skeletons, and a few of the windows didn't have glass in them.

"This is a living complex?" he asked, and Izumi looked up at him over her shoulder.

"Sure…but no one actually lives here. They ran out of money trying to cover a politician's slip up when he slept with his secretary's brother."

For a moment, Alphonse didn't really register the statement, until he took it all in. If he had normal flesh and blood, he was pretty sure his face would be bright red right about now. A second later, he threw the thought aside and looked at the building determinedly. His brother was in there somewhere, and he was going to get him out no matter what.

"Remember your promise to me, Alphonse," Izumi broke the silence, speaking as if she could read his mind. "Nothing rash, okay? We don't want to risk something happening to Edward."

"Right," he replied, nodding. With a look at Sig, who also nodded, Izumi led the way in through the front door.

"Hellooooooo," she called when the portals swung open. "We're here! Anybody home?"

"Teacher! Look!"

There was a body lying on the ground a few feet from where they stood, motionless and with its back facing them. The three started forward, and Izumi grabbed a shoulder and rolled the body over.

"Another Edward-dummy," she said, breathing a sigh of relief. If the Doppelganger was still making Edward-dummies, then Edward was probably still alive.

"How are we going to be able to tell the difference between the Ed-dummies and the real Ed?" Alphonse asked, somewhat exasperated. Izumi rose to her feet and smirked.

"Easy: one, the dummies don't have faces, and two, the dummies will be wearing clothes."

Alphonse stared at her.

"Huh?"

"The first dummy I found was wearing the real Edward's clothes. All of these dummies are wearing clothes the Doppelganger transmuted. The real Edward will most likely be in his underwear."

Izumi couldn't help the grin on her face, despite the dire situation, and Alphonse shook his head.

"Poor Brother…"

Before he could say anything more, a gaggle of five Edward-shaped mannequins suddenly appeared from the sides, staggering together with jerky motions and turning to face Izumi, Alphonse, and Sig.

Alphonse balked.

"They're moving??"

"He's using alchemy to move them," Izumi grimaced, taking a step back. The three turned in surprise when they heard the doors to the building slam shut and there they found three more Edward-dummies at their backs.

"I'm surprised you decided to come," called a voice from high up. The eyes of the three down below trailed up the staircase before them to alight on a man with mousy brown hair and dark clothes. He stood with his arms crossed, stance easy and relaxed, as if he were holding all the cards. Alphonse could well guess that he was probably the Doppelganger. Izumi balled her hands into fists and took a step forward.

"Where is he?" she demanded angrily. "What did you do with Edward??"

The man grinned crazily.

"I guess you'll just have to find him, won't you?"

He put a finger against his chin and struck a mockingly thoughtful pose.

"Oh…that is, of course, if you can get past my army."

His confident demeanor slipped for a moment as the ground beneath them shuddered and quaked. Suddenly, several spikes shot up from the floor and skewered all eight of the Edward-dummies surrounding them. Everyone stared at the crouching Izumi in shock, and when the woman rose to her feet, there was a dangerous look on her face.

"I'm sorry, I was distracted. What was it you were saying about your army?"

The Doppelganger gawked in dismay before he took a step back and took off running up the stairs.

"Get back here, you sniveling little bastard!!" Izumi commanded, giving chase. Alphonse followed a step behind, and Sig brought up the rear.

Izumi reached the landing first, but when she turned to start up the next flight of stairs, she was met by ten more Edward-dummies. She took down the first one that rushed her and hopped up to meet the next one when Alphonse moved in front of her and grabbed the dummy, flipping it over his back and over her head to Sig, who reached up with one hand to grab the flying doll and smash it against the ground where it broke into several pieces.

"Teacher, go!" Alphonse said, assuming a defensive stance to meet the next eight dummies. "We'll take care of these guys! You go and find Ed!!"

Izumi nodded and moved without hesitation, though she couldn't resist bashing one of the dummies in the back of the head as she moved past. It made her feel better. In a few short minutes, she broke down the door at the top of the stairs and rolled into the hallway, rising from her crouch and turning to face the other end of the hallway. There stood the Doppelganger with a blindfolded Edward held before him, a hand over the boy's mouth and the man's switchblade at his throat. The captive's hands were bound before him, and he was only wearing his boxers. Izumi glared.

"Let him go."

The Doppelganger smirked.

"Let me kill you, and we have a deal."

It was Izumi's turn to smirk.

"As if I would agree to that."

"Then it looks like you're condemning your young apprentice to death."

Izumi shook her head.

"You're still an idiot after all these years, you know that."

The Doppelganger stared hard.

"What are you talking about?"

"Did you really think I would fall for this trick?"

The man didn't reply.

"I know that's just a dummy you're holding."

"Do you?" he asked, pressing the knife further into the boy's flesh. "Are you sure you want to test that theory?"

Izumi shook her head and crossed her arms.

"Of course I am. And let me tell you why. First of all, my apprentice wouldn't be standing there so quietly even _if_ his mouth were covered."

"I think he's got a good reason to be quiet," the man replied, gesturing towards the switchblade.

"Wouldn't matter. There would still be some noise of some sort, but that thing isn't making a sound because it can't. Second of all, you've made a big mistake in the design."

The man rolled his eyes.

"And what, pray tell, is that?"

"Edward's _right_ arm is made of automail."

For a moment, the man didn't react, and then he looked down at the form in his arms in shock.

"You made that doll according to how you were _remembering_ Edward…in other words, you knew it was a right arm, but your subconscious thought it was _your_ right instead of _Edward's_ right. In other words…you made a _reflection_, _not_ a double."

Izumi leaned forward from her waist a little.

"I believe in chess we call this a 'checkmate'," she said, grinning wickedly. "Your move."

The Doppelganger grimaced, but he didn't hesitate, scratching out some sort of transmutation circle on the dummy's back with lightning speed before shoving it forward with a slap. When the mannequin dropped to the floor, it exploded into a thick smoke cloud. Izumi covered her face, but she started coughing anyway. Before the cough could worsen and cause her to cough up blood, she clapped her hands together and dropped to the floor, using her alchemy to call up a strong whirlwind that blew away all the smoke. With a few more coughs, Izumi looked around, trying to locate her opponent, but he was no longer in the hallway. However, she figured that the slightly ajar door of the room to her right was a good clue as to where he might have gone. Fighting the urge to continue coughing, she stormed into the room, pushing the door aside in one, grand, sweeping motion, and stopping dead in her tracks at the sight waiting on the other side.

On the ground a few feet in front of her, bound, gagged, and bruised, lay the real Edward. His eyes were squeezed shut and he was trembling, no doubt due to the blade of the _yari_ held against his throat by yet another Edward-dummy. Across the room, leaning casually against the wall, stood the Doppelganger. Izumi was about to bring her hands together to transmute something when the man lifted a hand.

"Uh, uh, uh," he said, waggling a finger. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"And _why_ should I listen to _you_?"

The _yari_ made a clinking noise as the dummy jerked it closer, and Edward let out a muffled squeak. Izumi went cold and froze.

"That's why," the Doppelganger said needlessly. "One wrong move, lady. That's all it takes."

Edward opened his eyes and stared up at her with a pleadingly terrified expression. Izumi inwardly winced as she realized how truly helpless he was, and she realized that she had to be very careful from now on. His life depended on her actions, and she couldn't afford to throw caution to the wind. Wasn't that what she had warned Alphonse against? That thought weighing heavily on her mind, she lowered her hands.

"Alright, now that _that's_ settled…I've got a business proposition for you."

"Oh, really?"

The sarcasm was practically dripping from her tongue. The Doppelganger frowned and came forward a few steps to stand beside his doll. He leaned over his captive, who whimpered and shut his eyes.

"Now that's not a very cooperative attitude. I even gave you the chance to see your protégé one more time."

"You also promised me that you would return him unharmed."

"I told you that he _might_ be returned unharmed. No guarantees."

Izumi glared.

"I don't take kindly to people who brutalize my students."

"I don't take kindly to people who insult me. I guess this makes us even."

The woman crossed her arms.

"What do you want?"

The Doppelganger smiled and straightened.

"Now we're getting somewhere."

He stepped around to the other side of his doll, coming around to stand only about a foot away from Izumi.

"What I want, lady, is to make you pay for the way you treated me all those years ago."

"And how do you propose to do that?"

"Ah, now see, that's the beauty of it."

He quickstepped backwards with a jovial spring in his step, and the dummy jerkily pulled the _yari_ away from Edward's throat so that the man could hoist him to his feet. Edward let out a muffled cry of alarm, but he had no way of resisting the motion, and soon found his back pressed against the man's chest. The man craned his neck over the boy's shoulder so that their cheeks were almost touching and his chin was practically resting on the captive's shoulder. From this position, the man grinned crazily.

"I'll make a trade with you. Your life for his. Tit-for-tat. Sound fair?"

Izumi's eyes narrowed.

"An equivalent exchange," she said, and then she humphed. "How poetic."

"Indeed! And everyone benefits from this! The kid, here, gets to go on his merry way, _I_ get to exact my revenge, and _you_ get to die peacefully with the knowledge that you saved your protégé in the end! Sound good?"

"It does sound ideal…except that there's one thing you left out."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah…you left out the part where I get to _pound your face_ _in_ for involving my apprentice in your hair-brained scheme."

The man's expression hardened dangerously.

"If you've got a problem with me, you come and face me down like a man," the woman continued. "You don't go involving innocent people to use against me in your petty squabble."

"Petty??" the man spat out. "_Petty_?? You think that this is some _petty_ squabble??"

"So I picked on you years ago. Get over it and grow up. You're a man, now, and if you want to sulk about this, go cry to your mommy."

At that, something in the man snapped. He shoved Edward down to the ground and gestured, and the Edward-dummy shot forward, _yari_ leading. Izumi didn't even flinch, just very calmly clapped her hands and touched the wall to her right. A spike shaped like a screw shot out and stabbed the doll through the middle, effectively defeating it. With a growl, the man pulled a dark, forest green glove out of one of the back pockets of his pants, pulling it on and revealing the complex transmutation circle emblazoned on the palm.

"Let's see how our skills match up against one another," he growled, and then he dropped to one knee, slamming his hand into the ground and sending a transmuted wave of tile towards Izumi. The woman snorted and clapped her hands.

"No contest," she replied, likewise dropping to one knee and sending a similar shockwave out. The two waves collided with one another and cancelled each other out, leaving several cracked fragments of tile as the only evidence that something had happened. The man lifted his hand and slammed it down again, this time raising a wall that sent out a volley of spikes hurtling towards Izumi, who raised a wall of her own only a split second before the spikes hit their mark, destroying them. She shot out a few spikes of her own, following them up with a second volley of spikes, so that when the first round hit and destroyed the Doppelganger's wall, the second spray nearly hit him. One spike grazed his shin as he leaped back, drawing blood, but the man didn't let it bother him, smacking his hand against the wall. A cylinder of concrete shot out, rushing like a speeding pile driver at Izumi, who transmuted another wall to block it. However, as soon as the wall formed, she began hacking wildly, and a gout of blood spewed out from between her fingers. The Doppelganger grinned insanely.

"Looks like you've reached your limit, lady."

He stepped forward and picked up the discarded _yari_ lying on the ground. He stared down at Izumi.

"Before I finish you off, I want to make sure you learn your lesson."

Izumi could only stare in horror as the man stalked straight for the defenseless Edward, who gave a muffled cry of alarm and tried to squirm away. Of course, the bindings lashed around his ankles hobbled him severely, and all he could do was lay there on his back, gaze up at the man petrified, and await his death.

"No!" Izumi protested, but then another gout of blood gushed up, and she couldn't move due to the fiery agony screaming through her abdomen. The Doppelganger lifted the _yari_ up over Edward's unprotected chest, and he looked over at Izumi, smile crazed and almost animal.

"Say goodbye to you precious little protégé!" he enthused happily.

Edward screamed—but, of course the sound was muffled by the gag—and shut his eyes tightly as the man began his downward thrust. His whole body shook in terror, and his heart thumped against his ribs so hard, he thought it might burst from his chest.

_This is it_.

_I'm going to die._

He heard Izumi shout his name, but there was nothing she or he could do. It would take a miracle to save him now.

And a miracle's what he got.

When the death blow didn't fall, Edward continued lay there with his eyes closed, wondering if his death had been so quick, he hadn't noticed. But then he heard the sound of metal scraping against metal, and he realized with surprise that he was still alive. He opened his eyes.

The sight that greeted his eyes was possibly the most welcome one he ever hoped to see. Alphonse stood above him, one arm stretched out and holding the _yari_ at bay a few inches from Edward's chest. The Doppelganger stared in awed horror at the sight of the suit of armor before him, and his gawk only intensified as he found himself being forced back away from Edward.

"_Nobody _hurts _my_ brother," Alphonse growled, voice low and threatening. In one smooth motion, he launched the man across the room, keeping a hold on the _yari_, which he threw to the side an instant later. The Doppelganger crashed against the wall, and he stared up in horror as Alphonse steadily stalked towards him.

"Mister, you made a lot of bad choices today. First, you kidnapped my brother. Then, you hurt him, and now you tried to kill him _and_ my teacher."

He towered high above the man, who was now the one trembling.

"I don't think I need to tell you what happens to people who hurt the ones I care about," the fourteen year old finished lowly. Before the man could react, Alphonse smashed one of his huge fists into his jaw. Without even so much as a grunt of protest, the man slumped against the wall, unconscious. Alphonse turned away and headed back for his brother, bending down on one knee and pulling out the gag.

"Alphonse! Thank God!" Edward exclaimed breathlessly.

Alphonse helped him sit up, untying the bindings around his ankles and producing chalk to alchemically free his brother from the wrap and the tile around his hands.

"Are you alright, Brother?" he asked as he touched the circle he'd drawn on his brother's wrist restraints.

"Yeah," Edward replied huskily. Alphonse couldn't see his eyes, but he could see the trembling in his brother's hands. "I'm okay."

Izumi came over to join them, Sig close behind, and she knelt down beside Edward as he sat rubbing his left wrist, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm okay."

She studied him for a second as he ducked his head, trying to hide the thin stream of tears running down his face.

"Sorry," he said, reaching up hastily to wipe them away. "I guess I'm still a little shook up."

No one said anything, only gazed at him sympathetically. He kept rubbing at his eyes, but the tears just kept coming.

"I'm sorry," he said, giving a shaky laugh and smile. "I'll stop in a second. I promise."

Izumi didn't say a word, just put her arm around both of his shoulders and drew him into a hug, and Alphonse placed one of his large hands on his brother's head. They sat like that for a moment, until Izumi released him.

"Come on," she said, getting to her feet and helping him up. Alphonse produced his brother's red jacket from somewhere and handed it to him, and Edward slid into it gratefully. Izumi tousled his hair and looked at him fondly.

"Let's get you home."

They started out, Sig dragging the Doppelganger behind him by the ankles. Ed's pocket-watch fell out of his pocket, and the fifteen year old picked it, glaring down at the man. He would never forget how helpless this man had made him feel, but looking over at Alphonse—faithful, wonderful Alphonse—it didn't matter. Edward took his next step forward with his brother, keeping in mind that as long as he had Alphonse, he was never truly beyond help.

And he aimed to keep it that way.

**THE END**

I hope you liked this fic!! Please review and tell me what you liked and/or didn't like! I appreciate it!!


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